Sasha – Page 72 – Ultimate Cheerleaders

A twirl as an ice girl
By:Jill Radsken
The Boston Herald
September 2, 2013

When my editor asked me to try out to be a Boston Bruins Ice Girl, I gave it a cool reception.

“It’ll be fun,” she said, “and you can get the inside scoop on being the ultimate B’s booster.”

And thus, I found myself one day last week checking into Walter Brown Arena for my audition. I was Number 52, and headed to the locker room.

One look at the competition and it was clear — I’m nearly old enough to be their mother (a young mother, but still). I find a banker and a recent graduate from the University of Vermont in the mix. One of the friendliest faces belongs to Rachel Sibley, a special education aide who is painting over a tattoo on the side of her rib cage with concealer.

“I’m a Revs Girl,” she said, hoping the promotional experience will give her an edge.

There are 15 to 20 Ice Girls on the squad, and they have to commit to motivating fans at 30 of the team’s home games and 10 community appearances. This audition hopes to fill seven to 10 spots, I’m told.

A current Ice Girl hands out the written test.

I can easily name three Bruins players who have had their numbers retired: Bobby Orr, Ray Bourque and Cam Neely.

I also know the length of a minor penalty.

But my diagram of a hockey rink takes some misguided creative license, and I have no idea who the Bruins play for the upcoming season-opening game.

Next up is the individual interview, which gives me a boost. I respond to the favorite player question with Andrew Ference, and when they ask whom I would call first to tell I got the Ice Girl job, I answer honestly.

“My kids. My 12-year-old is a huge Bruins fan.”

Then it’s rink time. Although I have figure-skated for years, this is my first time in hockey skates and the missing toe pick and shorter blade are painfully tricky to navigate.

I whiff within a minute of getting on the ice. I’m embarrassed, and freezing in a tank top. Thirty minutes of drills — round the boards, wave and cheer, then skate to each line, pick up the puck and wave to imaginary fans — are draining.

“You looked pretty comfortable out there,” says Brandon Anthony, who manages the Ice Girls for the Bruins.

I am still thawing out when Anthony brings the entire group of 50 girls together to make his first cut. In a room full of bra tops and Victoria’s Secret Pink shorts, I feel a bit self-conscious in my tank, which actually covers my midriff.

Then he reads “52.”

Goal!

Though thrilled to make the first cut, this reporter is leaving the Ice Girl experience to her talented fellow auditioners.

So I was perusing the news the other day, and came across as story about a local dance studio in Northern California, whose students will we performing halftime at a local university. The studio is Dance Academy USA,which is under the artistic direction of one Jane Carter.

Jane Carter…Jane Carter…Jane Carter…I know I know something about Jane Carter. But what is it?

DUDE! That’s Jessie’s mom!

And then it all came back to me. All about Jessie’s mom, and everything Jessie told me a few months ago, and how this is THE GREATEST mother/daughter story to hit Ultimate Cheerleaders EVER. Y’all know how I am always on the hunt for twins/sisters/mother-daughter combos for our “relatives” page. My only excuse for forgetting about this is I am easily distracted and somebody must’ve waved a shiny object in front of my face.

First let’s start with Jessie. Such a sweet girl, that Jessie. Nice in a completely non-annoying way. She looks all intimidating in this photo. Soooo not her personality.

Jessie danced for the Los Angeles Clippers for two seasons (2008-2010).

I think she was all of 18 when she made the team.

Then she was with the Charger Grls for a season (2010-11).

After a season off to focus on school, Jessie got itch to get out there again. She had a little over a year before graduating from college, and decided she wanted to experience dance team at the college level. So she auditioned for, and was selected to the world famous Song Girls from the University of Southern California. That’s something new. A college dance team with an NFL/NBA alum in the ranks.

She was on that team last year (2012-13). There’s no telling where she’ll turn up next, but I am convinced she’s not finished dancing. It’s in her blood.

Which brings me to Jessie’s mom, Jane. As I mentioned above, Jane is the Artistic Director of Dance Academy USA. In addition to Jessie, Jane, and her husband Jim have two other daughters; Jamie and Jodie. Jane, Jim, Jessie, Jamie, and Jodie. I’ve seen pictures of the five of them together, and they look like the photo that comes with the frame.

Jim, I am informed, is the only one who can’t dance. Not even a little.

I’m keeping my eye out for Jamie and Jodie.

But back to Jane. This was Jane back in the day:

Like her daughter, Jane, also danced for both the NBA and the NFL. However, it was not for the Clippers and the Chargers. Jane was a Northern California girl, so her experience centered around that area. She started off with the San Jose State Spectrum Dance team in 1983-84. (To this day, Spectrum alumni are consistently selected for the NFL, NBA, and AFL.) A year later, she became a Golden State Warrior Girl.

(Top right, y'all)

She performed with that team for two years before spending a year with the San Francisco 49ers Gold Rush.

After that, she retired from her career as a pro sports entertainer and opened Dance Academy USA. A couple years later, little Jessie was born, and the rest is history.

These days Dance Academy USA keeps Jane plenty busy. It’s one of the largest. most successful studios in the region. They have 40 instructors, and over 1600 students. They teach hundreds of classes each week. Successful? You better believe it.

But back in the day, it was glam all the way. I have so many questions for Jane about what it was like back then, but if I sit down to figure them all out, this post will go on the shelf yet again. So for now, let’s enjoy the pics. Many thanks to Jessie for all the photos of her mommy 🙂

Sidebar: if you know of any sisters, cousins, moms and daughters, to add to the list. Let me know at sasha (at) procheerleaderblog.com

Click here to check an out an extensive gallery of photos from across the league.

This week’s gallery includes teams from the Cardinals, Cowboys, Colts, Dolphins, Raiders, Redskins, and 49ers. Click here to check it out!

Whenever I see photos of the Colts Cheerleaders, I look for Crystal Anne so I can see how her hair is doing. She is one of two cheerleaders who had her head shaved during halftime at a game last year. (For some philanthropic cause which escapes my memory at the moment.) At auditions, she was still pretty spiky. But she must be taking her vitamins because look at her now. It’s Meg Ryan, circa 1990-something!

What happened to the other cheerleader who shaved her head? Unfortunately, she got cut at auditions earlier this year.

Nah, I’m kidding. She retired.

(Gawd, can you imagine? “Thanks for shaving your head, hon, but we won’t be needing your services this year.”)

Click here to view the photo full size!

In Australia, the big sport is rugby. Their National Rugby League (NRL) is, I think the Down Under equivalent to the NFL. (Interesting factoid: Although it is Australia’s league, there is one team from New Zealand. Kind of like the Raptors are included in the NBA. Another interesting factoid: all of the teams are clustered along the Eastern perimeter of the country. They aren’t spread out over the whole of Australia. No clue why that is.)

There are 16 clubs in the league, and all but one have a cheer team. The one that doesn’t is the South Sydney Rabbitohs. They used to have cheerleaders, called the “Bunnies” (of course), but Russell Crowe put the kibosh on that when he got involved with the club’s leadership. Yes, that Russell Crowe. Not that we care about him.

Every year, each of the fifteen remaining teams nominates two cheerleaders for the “Big League Cheerleader of the Year.” Big League is, I gather, a major sport magazine. In the first round, voters decide which of the two reps from each team will compete against the other teams. Once they’ve narrowed it down to one cheerleader from each team, then they vote to select THE winnner. I think they do 2×2 matchups. The one who wins the whole shebang is named Cheerleader of the Year. I don’t know what all that entails. Maybe just bragging rights. But still, those are some pretty rad bragging rights. You can tell everyone that YOU are #1 out of the whole entire league.

We should try that here. Presenting the UltimateCheerleaders.com NFL Cheerleader of the Year…year…year…year (< --that's the impressive-sounding echo.) Come on, who wouldn’t want that title?

Sidebar: Big ups for The Pom Pom Paparazzi. This is a shout out that’s been on my to-do list for ages. The site is administered by a Hayley, a current member of the Manly Sea Eagles Sea Birds. She provides a birds-eye view (bad pun intended) of the world professional cheerleading in the National Rugby League. DO check it out. TODAY. [click here]

But back to the subject at hand. The NRL season is winding down (Finals start in August), and so it is also time to wrap up this year’s cheerleader vote. Unfortunately, you and I are furriners, so we don’t get to vote. Regardless, this is a good time to take a look at this year’s NRL cheerleader squads. Shall we?

We shall.